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African Americans & Kidney Disease

Did you know that African Americans are 3 times more likely to experience kidney failure? Because kidney disease often has no symptoms, it can go unnoticed until it is very advanced. But there's good news. Taking steps to live a healthy lifestyle can go a long way towards reducing risk. Read more.

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Kidney Walk

The Kidney Walk is the nation's largest walk to fight kidney disease. Held in nearly 100 communities, the event raises awareness and funds lifesaving programs that educate and support patients, their families and those at risk.

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Provides the latest information about legislation and policy relating to chronic kidney disease, transplantation and donation. The featured action alerts allow you to easily advocate to your Members of Congress on these issues.

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KEEP Healthy

Ask the Doctor with Dr. Leslie Spry, MD, FACP

Dr. Spry, our resident doctor, answers your questions about sugar and its impact on the kidneys, as well as the kidney-heart connection.

Q: How does sugar intake impact healthy kidneys?

A: Sugar is not a problem to the kidneys unless the blood level of sugar gets too high. This commonly occurs in diabetes, both Type 1 and Type 2. Once the blood sugar gets higher than 180 milligrams per deciliter, then the kidney starts to spill sugar into the urine. The higher the blood sugar the more sugar that comes out in the urine. If your kidneys are normal, there is usually no problem. If you have diabetes, there is a problem.

Q: How can diabetes damage the kidneys?

A: The higher the blood sugar gets, the more that sugar gets attached to proteins in the body. Indeed, that is how we measure the damage that can be done by sugar in the body is by measuring a protein in the body to which the sugar attaches. We measure a protein know as Hemoglobin A1C (HgbA1C) in the blood and this gives us an estimate of the average blood sugar in the blood for the past 3 months. A normal HgbA1C is less than 6%. As the HgbA1C gets higher, the more damage is done to body proteins including the proteins of the kidney. Other abnormalities associated with diabetes, including high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels also contribute to damage of the blood vessel of the kidney and destroy the filters of the kidney.

Q: What is cardiovascular disease and how is it connected to kidney disease?

A: Cardiovascular disease includes damage to the heart and circulatory system, that includes all the blood vessels in your body. Every organ in your body has blood vessels including your kidney. Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) cause heart damage and kidney damage. If one has heart disease, then it is likely that one also has kidney disease. If one has kidney disease, it is also likely that heart disease will also be present. The two diseases are risk factors for each other. Most of the time, you inherit the genetic predisposition to have one of these diseases, so if you have a family history of heart disease, kidney failure, diabetes or high blood pressure, you should also be tested for cardiovascular and kidney disease.

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The National Kidney Foundation is the leading organization in the U.S. dedicated to the awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease for hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals, millions of patients and their families, and tens of millions of Americans at risk.